Name: Franklin Joseph Crook Rank: Private Service Number: F/45208 Service: West Nova Scotia Regiment, Royal Canadian Infantry Corps Date of Birth: June 13, 1921 Place of Birth: MacLellans Mountain, Pictou County, Nova Scotia Date of Enlistment: June 28, 1940 Place of Enlistment: Mulgrave, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Thorburn, Pictou County, Nova Scotia Age at Enlistment: 19 Height: 5 feet, 10 ½ inches Complexion: Medium Eye Colour: Grey Hair Colour: Auburn Occupation: Labourer Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Religion: Roman Catholic Next of Kin: Seymour Crook (Father), Thorburn, Pictou County, NS (at enlistment) Mary Crook (Wife), Thorburn, Pictou County, NS Date of Death: April 14, 1945 Age: 23 Cemetery: Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands Grave: Section II, Row F, Grave 15 Commemorated on Page 507 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on October 28 Franklin was the son of Seymour Alexander Crook (1892-1978) and Catherine Theresa (Dewtie) Crook (1904- 1976), of Thorburn, Pictou Co., Nova Scotia, the brother of three young sisters Martha Crook (b. 1923), Patricia Ann Crook (1938-2017), Lexie Anne (d. 1929), and Catherine Florence (Crook) Morrison, and younger brother Lawrence. His wife was Mary (Connolly) Crook (d. 1980), of Salford, England, who settled in Nova Scotia after the war. Franklin grew up in a farming family and attended school in a two-room schoolhouse, completing grade 10. Franklin’s service was quite varied. He served with the Pictou Highlanders, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders, the West Nova Scotia Regiment, and the First Special Service Force. Frank enlisted with the Pictou Highlanders and later transferred to the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. In March 1944, he was transferred as a replacement to the West Nova Scotia Regiment. He was wounded on May 24, 1944, at the Hitler Line near Monte Cassino with a gunshot wound in his right shoulder. When he returned to active service, he joined the First Special Service Force (FSSF). He landed with the FSSR in Southern France during Operation Dragoon. When the FSSF was disbanded in December 1944, he returned to the West Novas. With the West Nova Scotia Regiment, Frank was transferred from the Italian battlefields to Northwest Europe. He was killed in action on April 14, 1945, near the railway line Apeldoorn-Zutphen (named Hell's Corner) where the Germans had dug in and waited for the advancing Canadians. Frank was initially buried with four other West Novas in the town of Klarenbeek near Apeldoorn. He was later reburied at Holten Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands.

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave